The Portuguese Frigate NRP Álvares Cabral joined the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia – Operation Atalanta on 6 April 2013, in Djibouti. During her participation in Operation Atalanta, for the next 4 months, Álvares Cabral will be the EU Naval Force flagship, hosting the Force Commander and his mu
Swedish Ocean Patrol Vessel (OPV) HSwMS Carlskrona joined the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia – Operation Atalanta on 6 April 2013, in Djibouti. HMS Carlskrona is a 106 meter long OPV with a crew of 139, including the boarding team and helicopter crew. She is a former flagship of EU NAVFOR (2010)
On 6 April 2013, Commodore Jorge Palma (Portuguese Navy) took over as Force Commander of the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta from Rear Admiral Pedro Garcia De Paredes (Spanish Navy), following a change-of-command-ceremony in Djibouti. The Deputy Operation Commander of EU NAVFOR
The Royal Navy’s contribution to the alliance has been praised as it approaches 45 years of continuous submarine nuclear deterrent patrols. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen wrote to Defence Secretary Philip Hammond this week to thank the UK for its nuclear commitment to the alliance as t
On 3 April 2013, whilst on counter piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, Rear Admiral Pedro García de Paredes, who is the Force Commander of EU NAVFOR, met with the Commander of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) counter-piracy task force, Rear Admiral Giam Hock Koon. The meeting between the two force
On 3 April, German Frigate FGS Karlsruhe handed over counter piracy duties to her sister ship FGS Augsburg in a ceremony held in the port of Djibouti following a successful 5 month deployment as part of EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia – Operation Atalanta. The ceremony was attended by several dis
The German Sachsen-class frigate Hamburg (F220) is the first German ship to fully integrate and deploy with an American carrier strike group, and April 3 marks her second week of operating in the North Arabian Sea with USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (IKE). The Hamburg will stay a part of the stri
NATO’s Standing Naval Mine Counter-Measures Group 2, headed by HMS Cattistock, has paid a visit to the country where she hosted NATO and Algerian Officers. While in the country’s capital, visiting officers were offered a capability demonstration as well as a presentation on NATO’s maritime role. Awa
Whilst departing from the port of Salalah, Oman, after a brief logistic stop, the EU’s counter-piracy flagship, ESPS Méndez Núñez enjoyed a brief rendezvous with fellow EU Naval Force warship HNLMS De Ruyter, who was about to enter the Omani port. ESPS Méndez Núñez did a ‘pass-by’ on the port side o
His Royal Highness the Duke of York visited Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton to mark the end of service of the Lynx Mk3 Full Mission Simulator (FMS) having himself first flown in it in 1984. As the Royal Navy’s Lynx Mk3 helicopters come to the end of their operational lives and the last airf
Russia’s Amur-1650 Class Submarine Sparks Foreign Interest Foreign customers have shown high interest in Russia’s advanced Amur-1650 class submarine, state-run arms dealer Rosoboronexport said on Wednesday. ”Of the nine countries that are planning to modernize or develop their submarine fleets…three
Whilst operating in the Gulf of Aden as a part of the EU Naval Force counter-piracy mission, Operation Atalanta, the Dutch frigate HNLMS De Ruyter has refueled from the US auxiliary ship USNS Medgar Evers. The refueling was conducted via a Replenishment at Sea (RAS), an impressive event requiring co
On the morning of 27 March, the helicopter of Dutch EU Naval Force warship HNLMS De Ruyter landed on the flight deck of the Spanish EU Naval Force vessel ESPS Rayo, becoming the first helicopter from another Operation Atalanta unit to land on the Spanish warship. This helicopter landing occurred as
The Duke of York paid a special visit to HMS Collingwood recently to view the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers bridge simulator runs developed for Royal Navy Navigators in Endeavour Building. He also visited Lyster Building for a tour of the integration facility for the Mission System that wi
